Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for establishing access to the removal and installation of the main shaft, gearbox, generator and other main parts located in the nacelle of a wind turbine, the cabriolet remains localized on the nacelle, and guide mechanisms to perform the invention.
Description of Related Art
When carrying out service and repair work on large wind turbines, there is a need to be able to get access to mount and dismount vital and relatively heavy parts of the wind turbine, which is located in the interior of the nacelle. These parts are for example the main shaft, gearbox, generator and other major parts, which not can be transported up and down through the wind turbine tower, and where either the use of cranes or crane winch between the nacelle and a station on the ground, to handle said parts, which require that there is access to the nacelle from above. This access has so far been obtained by simply removing the nacelle cabriolet (the roof), and the hoist it down to earth by the use of a mobile crane and hoist the cabriolet in place after completion of servicing/repair of the windmill. This requires, however, the presence of a mobile crane, which is relatively expensive operation since the crane charged at the hourly rental. In cases where there used winches for the transport of the heavy parts from the nacelle and the ground surface, the handling of the nacelle cabriolet be a difficult operation due the relatively bulky design of the cabriolet, hence the need to operate with alternative solutions.
An alternative option could be to mount the cabriolet on the nacelle with a hinge connection, and with hydraulically operated pistons, for example in combination with exchange mechanisms whereby the cabriolet could be opened as seen at smaller turbine types. However, such solutions require the installation of fixed installations in a nacelle, in which is already scarce space, and the solution is relatively expensive compared to the number of times where such installation is required.
Thus, there is a need for an alternative solution to the above problem which is both flexible and which is universally applicable for convertibles on the nacelles of different sizes and types of wind turbines.